Nostalgia Nook: “Luck of the Irish”

Time for a Disney Channel Original Movie or DCOM! I should probably do more of these. But in honor of St. Patrick’s Day (which is why this is delayed to then), I present this original movie!

A pot of gold and SPOILERS!


“Luck of the Irish” tells the story of Kyle (Ryan Merriman), a high school basketball star. He’s always been very lucky. But his parents, Bob (Paul Kiernan) and Kate (Marita Geraghty), have also been very secretive about his mother’s side of the family. Kyle doesn’t mind that much. He’s enjoying his time as a teenager.

Until a fair comes to town, including a troupe of step dancers. As they dance, Kyle starts dancing as well. He doesn’t know how either. When he leaves the fair, he realizes he lost the gold coin he always wears around his neck.

And his luck starts to change. He can’t play basketball anymore. His hair starts turning red. And his ears become pointy. Kyle also starts to shrink. He runs home and discovers the truth: His mother is a leprechaun. It’s a bit of a shock. They hid the truth because they wanted Kyle to have a normal life. And because his mother’s family disowned her for not marrying another leprechaun. You know. The usual.

But wait! There’s more! The gold coin wasn’t just the secret to Kyle’s luck—but the entire family’s! And there was an evil leprechaun after it. Who was dancing at the fair. So now Kyle has to get it back. With the help of his friends, Russell (Glenndon Chatman) and Bonnie (Alexis Lopez), and the grandfather he never knew (Henry Gibson), he embarks on an adventure. Can he get his coin—and his luck—back before he turns into a leprechaun? Or worse—misses the big basketball game?

It’s a good movie. And a fun one to watch on St. Patrick’s Day. Merriman carries the movie well and I wonder what happened to his career. He seemed to have dropped off the radar several years ago. I think he may have popped up in an indie movie since. But I liked him in the Disney movies he was in.

He also had a good repertoire with the cast. Bonnie was a bit of a weak link, though her character’s storyline was good. Her struggle to live up to her dad’s expectations while wanting to pursue her own passions was relatable. But a bit predictable. Right down to her disliking Kyle because everything comes easy to him while she has to work hard. She’s pretty paint by numbers. And Russell is just there to be the best friend. He does get a nice bit toward the end, in the big game.

Is this a celebration of all things Irish? Not really. It plays a bit on stereotypes. Leprechauns. Gold coins. Step dancing. The only non-stereotypical thing is basketball. I wonder if that was an ode to March’s other big event?

And even still, there’s a patriotic undertone throughout the movie as well. Bonnie is putting together a special school assembly to celebrate everyone’s heritages. Kyle refuses to participate because he’s American. In the end, he does some Irish step dancing in it. But when he’s done, he talks about being proud of being an American and starts singing “This Land is Your Land.” Everyone joins in. While the movie came out in 2001, it premiered in March—almost six months before September 11th. So I’m not sure why the patriotic undertone was included. Any guesses?

All I know is that I don’t mind watching it around St. Patrick’s day. It’s a nice fluffy movie. Sometimes, that’s all we want with our corned beef and green beer. Right?

Next time (back to April 5th): Reading Rainbow.